Beautiful Line
by JanetheGamer123
Summary: GLaDOS has an interesting conversation with Rick, and finds out some things about herself. Please feel free to leave comments & constructive criticism!


GLaDOS was very irratated.

It had been a long day...P-Body and Atlas were taking very long to solve every test, The intercom wasn't working for some reason, what else could happen that could make her day worse?

"Hey gorgeous!"

Speak of the devil.  
A day or two ago, after GLaDOS had yelled at Rick about everyone understanding that he enjoyed adventure and didn't have to brag about it anymore, and he had taken a shine to her. Always interrupted her while she was working, called her "gorgeous", and counted down the days to something called 'Explosion Day'. Rick swaggered over to where she was working, his obniouxious cowboy boots scraping across the tiles, and he leaned over to her workspace and propped his elbow on her desk.

"Hey," he said, nodding his head. His elbow slipped for a moment, and then he awkwardly propped it back up. GLaDOS scowled and turned back to her various buttons that dropped turrets, light beams, confetti, neurotoxin, the usual. "You look more aggrivated than usual today, sweetness." he said. She thought about calling in the animal king turret to scare him off, again, but she decided to humor him.

She leaned over to him, and said in her smoothest voice possible-"I guess I would be more happy if we went out after work." It took nearly ten million volts of effort to keep herself from puking.

Rick's eyes lit up excitedly. "Really?!" he said. GLaDOS frowned.

"No." she said coldly, and went back to work. Rick gritted his teeth.

'I have to try harder,' he thought to himself. He had hit on many women before, and had been rejected many, many times. Usually, he would shrug and move onto the next pretty woman he saw. But with GLaDOS, it was different. When she rejected him, he felt an urge to try harder. He thought back to when he first met her...

"Take one last look at your precious human moon!"

Wheatley was yelling at the lady, and Rick was clinging for dear life onto the body. Suddenly, something started sucking them in. Craig went first, then Space, but Rick was hanging on. The body jerked wildly and swung Rick behind the walls. He passed out, his stetson askew. When he came to, he straightened his stetson and looked at the room, through the gap in the panels of the wall. And he saw her.

She had a white bodysuit on, pale porcelain skin, shiny black gloves and boots, and her eyes. A bright black color with a yellow U-shape as her pupil. Streaming from her eyes and onto her cheek was a straight line with binary on the side. She had a white bob hairstyle and a bored/relieved expression on her face.

"Hello, beautiful." Rick had said under his breath. After she sent the lady up on the elevator, he stepped out of the gap. He stood a fair distance and lightly held the rim of his stetson. "Hey pretty lady." And he still remembers the first words she had said to him:

"Oh god, no."

Rick returned to the present. He shook his head and remembered what day it was. He gave a cocky grin and started talking.

"Happy explosion day, gorgeous" he said "I bet you didn't expect that, ol' Rick inventing a holiday. But I'll tell you, it's better than Christmas. Much better." She gave him a confused/annoyed look, and Rick continued talking. "And guess what? It's the same day that lil' nerd went to space. Man, you were happy that day. Exactly a year ago. So I thought it best to-"

GLaDOS balled her fists in annoyance. She wanted him to shut up. A LOT. 'This will be risky,' she thought 'but it just might work.' While he was talking, GLaDOS lunged at him. And KISSED him. Just to shut him up. Rick's eyes went as wide as two saucers. His stetson fumbled a little bit, but he didn't care. This was happening. He was happy. GLaDOS finally broke the kiss, and Rick was just standing there, some tufts of his bangs broke out of the stetson and were hanging by his eyes. His mouth was open in dumb surprise. Really dumb. She smirked at his dumb expression.

"Well," she said, not looking at him "I'm GLaD that made you shut up. I still regret it, though."

Rick managed to say something. "Aghdjsk..." he said.

She sighed. "I know..." she said. "I understand you're shocked. I would be, too. If it happened the other way around. Of course it would end differently." She smiled, imagining the pyramid of turrets in her head. "But you want to know why I didn't just destroy you when I found out you where still here?" Rick swayed a bit, mouth still aghast. "You're kind of like me." she said when he failed to answer. "Not entirely, of course, but in the sense of self-awareness." She sat up on her desk and sighed. "I mean, Atlas and P-Body both know what their built for, to test. I know what I was built for. To store someone's intelligence. But I don't really know my soul purpose, so I go around, flood neurotoxin and trample dreams. The usual. But you, you don't know what your soul purpose is, do you?" Rick jerked his head quickly. GLaDOS sighed again. "I...thought so. Your purpose was to scan memos for typos, but all you did was talk about adventure. It became a normal habit. So, you were filed corrupted. We're alike, I hate to admit. We went against our destinies, even though I don't exactly know what mine is. While you annoy the hell out of me, I can't help but admire your determination." GLaDOS looked over and saw that Rick was in the exact same position. "You're catatonic, aren't you?" she said. No response. She went over and kicked him lightly in the leg. His eyes rolled upwards and he fainted. GLaDOS sighed, exasperated. she tried to lift him up, but he was too heavy. So she dragged him by the ankles and put him in through the gap in the wall. "You know what else I can't help?" she whispered to herself after she laid him down. "I can't help but not regret it."

She was sitting down, looking at the complex code on her computer. Well, not really looking, more spacing out in front of her computer. Sighing, she looked down at her intertwined fingers. Even her vast, almost endless intelligence felt confusion. She didn't really know why exactly she didn't regret kissing him, but she couldn't like him. Could she? She knew it couldn't be love, love didn't involve hatred, in most cases. Chell hated the moron, but GLaDOS saw the way they look at each other. She knew she just kissed Rick to shut him up, but were there any more reasons? She shook her head and buried her head in her hands. Her deep thinking was interrupted by Atlas and P-Body squawking to each other over the security cameras. She angrily punched a button and they exploded. She was very familiar with anger, but not so much so with confusion.

Or affection.

But where had that come from? She hated Rick. A lot. Right? Growling, she picked up a stapler and threw it through the gap in the wall. Then she heard Rick exclaim. She cupped her hands over her mouth and rushed to the wall. "Sorry! I forgot you were there!" she said. Helping him up, she realized they were practically holding hands. Rick looked at her and flashed a cocky grin. Her face flushed and she let go of his hands. Then she realized he was the first sentient creature she had ever said sorry to, not sarcastically. Chell was close, but even then all she had said was "Get out, you're a mistake." But saying sorry to Rick just felt, it felt natural. "Okay," she said "we need to talk."

"So I've just been going through this, this whirlwind of emotions, like a, a," she shuddered. "Human." After she was done explaining, she looked over to see Rick smirking in his seat.

"Well, well, well," he said "Looks like somebody like ol' Rick." GLaDOS groaned.

"Please stop reffering to yourself as 'ol' Rick,'" she said "And I don't like you, I would never like you, it's impossible, it can never-" Rick stopped her and took her hands. Sighing, she let him.

"Okay," he said "We're gonna figure this out." GLaDOS looked at him, confused.

"How?" she said. Rick flashed his cocky grin.

"By dancing."

"So, how exactly will this work?" GLaDOS was sitting on her desk, and Rick was tuning the small radio.

"Believe me, it will." he said. GLaDOS rolled her eyes and hopped off her desk. "I've learned some tricks with radios," he said "If you work them just right, you can get some music from a looong time ago." GLaDOS stepped behind him and watched him tune the device.

"Look," she said "I understand that you think this is going to work-" Rick laughed.

"I KNOW this'll work." he said. GLaDOS rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well," she said, fumbling with her fingers. "I don't think I can do this, because, I don't really know how to dance." Rick stopped tuning the device and turned back to her.

"Really?" he said. He seemed so surprised. "Because in all your, intelligence, I can't believe you don't know how to dance!" GLaDOS gritted her teeth.

"Don't rub it in." Rick shrugged and turned back to the radio.

"I guess I'll have to teach you." GLaDOS's face flushed and she bit her lip. Rick was making some final adjustments to the radio. Finally, they got a signal. Rick laughed and turned to hi-five GLaDOS. She didn't return the hi-five. "Alrighty," he said "Let's dance." He turned the volume up and it started to play an electro-rock sort of song. ( watch?v=5NV6Rdv1a3I)

"Again," she said "how exactly will this work?" Rick shrugged.

"Dancing usually helps me figure stuff out." He held a hand out to her. She cautiously took it and he pulled her in. "Okay," he said "I'm gonna twirl you around. You ready?" Before she could reply, he quickly twirled her around and pulled her back in. He flashed his cocky grin again. She smiled a bit, but not enough for him to see. "Okay," he said "Again!" He twirled her even faster this time. GLaDOS laughed and then covered her mouth. Rick smiled. "It's okay," he said to her "you can laugh." She kept laughing and then held a hand out to Rick. Rick took it and GLaDOS twirled him around so fast his stetson fell off. She continued to laugh. Her happy laugh was different from her "autotuned nails-on-a-chalkboard" evil laugh. Her happy laugh was bubbly and warm. She grapevined around his arm and he tipped her down. This was the first time she ever got a good look at his eyes. A bright green color with a little glimmer in it that said "I don't care about my own safety, and/or the safety of others." She liked it. He brought her back up and they smiled at eachother. They weren't even holding hands, they were just smiling. Then GLaDOS started jumping. Not really dancing, just jumping up and down. Rick laughed and jumped, too. Well, he was too tall to really jump, so he just alternated between standing and standing on his tiptoes. They "jumped" together for awhile until they both burst out into uncontrollable laughter. GLaDOS wiped the tears from her eyes and grabbed Rick's stetson off the ground. She set it on his head and straightened it.

"There," she said "You look better with it." Rick flashed his cocky grin again and grabbed GLaDOS and tipped her again. Then, for some odd reason, there was a power surge. All of the lights went off except for the ones directly above them. Also, during the surge, the radio skipped around between channels until it decided on a song -=-=-=-

Meanwhile, Atlas and P-body were kneeling over the power controls in the vent by GLaDOS's lair.

-=-=-=-( watch?v=sUv7pZxwST0) Rick brought her up and looked her in her eyes.

"Do you know how to slow dance?" he asked. She shook her head quickly. Rick smiled. Not his usual grin, but a modest smile. He brought her arms up on his shoulders, and put his arms around her waist. "Now we just..." Rick gave a small chuckle. "Walk around slowly, in a circle." They did that for awhile, until GLaDOS put her head on Rick's chest and sighed. Rick stopped for a moment, and then shrugged and laid his head on hers. GLaDOS closed her eyes and took joy in the moment. And then it started. The memories, they just started flooding in, like a wave of nostalgia. Until, finally, it stopped, and the scene of her memories played out in her head...  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A man who looked about in his mid-forties was sitting at his desk looking at his agenda. His door was closed until his lovely assistant opened it a bit and popped her head in.

"Hi!" she said. Her voice was very cheery and bubbly. The man smiled. His assistant always helped cheer him up on the most boring of days with her cheery voice.

"Caroline! he said to her, arms opening in welcome. "Come on in!" She stepped in, her long black hair swishing at every step, but still remaining around her neck and by her shoulder. The man leaned back in his chair. "What's up?" he asked. Caroline smiled, her white teeth shining like rays of sunshine.

"Well," she said, with a dreamy look on her face. "I was wondering if I could leave early tonight. I'm seeing that new Indiana Jones movie with Ace." The man gave her a confused look. She shook her head. "Sorry," she said "Do you know Jackson?" The man nodded.

"Yeah, that boy who checks the memos for typos." Caroline nodded. The man scratched his chin for a moment. "People call him Ace?"

Caroline smiled. "Some people do." The man nodded.

"Who else is going?" Caroline kicked at the ground for a second.

"Just me and him." The dreamy look returned. "It's a date." The man's smile faltered.

"Really?" he said. She nodded. "Well, um," he fumbled with his turtleneck. "I have a lot of work to do, and," She breifly glanced down at the one paper on his desk. "I can't really answer the phones AND do all this work, and," She nodded, biting her lip.

"No, I understand." she said "I'm going to go tell him that the date's off." The man nodded and Caroline rushed out of the room. As soon as she was out, he reached for the phone.

"Jonathan?" he said "I got this memo about downsizing and-" pause. "Yes, well, you know that boy Jackson?"

Caroline walked down to his cubicle, the usual spring in her step gone. A young man looked up from his memo to see his girlfriend. "Hey!" he said, turning in his seat. "Beautiful 'line!" She gave a weak smile.

"Hi Ace." Ace's smile faltered.

"What's wrong gorgeous?" She sighed and bit her lip.

"Mr Johnson said no." Ace groaned and took her hands.

"I keep tellin' you," he said, looking into her eyes. "We should both just quit and go on adventures!" Caroline chuckled and blushed. They were soon interrupted by a man wearng a nice suit and glasses approaching Ace.

"Jackson," he said "I'm afraid to inform you that you have been laid off." Ace's face just dropped. His happy eyes went lifeless and his cocky grin vanished.

"No..." he said, removing his hands from Caroline's. "Y-you can't fire me!" He was yelling at the man now.

"I'm sorry," he said "Please clean out your desk." Ace was filled with rage now. "NO!" he screamed, pushing all of the items off of his desk. "YOU CAN'T FIRE ME, I-" The suited man held up his hand.

"There is a way you can still stay here, though." he said. "You could do something the lab boys call a 'PCT'." Caroline gasped and grabbed Ace's arm.

"No," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "Y-don't do it, Ace! I don't know what happens, or-or what it stands for, but when people sign up for that, they never return!" Ace flashed his cocky grin.

"They were probably too chicken to go through with it and quit," he said to her. "Sign me up." The suited man nodded and took Ace's arm. He turned back to her. "Be back in a bit!" he said. But he never came back. Caroline racked her brains for a bit, until finally figuring out what PCT stood for.

"Personality Core Transplant," she whispered to herself.

And then the memory faded.  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

GLaDOS lifted her head and looked up at Rick. He was staring down at her, his modest smile showing. "Rick?" she said quietly, with her hand on his chest. "Do you remember Jackson?" He cocked his head slightly, confused. She smiled, tears in her eyes. "Jackson?" she said. She bit her lip. "Ace?" Rick's eyes went wide, wider than when she'd kissed him. "Ace?" she said again. He opened his mouth cautiously.

"Beautiful 'line?" he said. She smiled, tears streaming down her face.

"Ace!" she yelled, wrapping her hands around his neck.

"Beautiful 'line!" he yelled, picking her up and twirling her around. They were both laughing quietly, tears of joy just pouring out. Rick set her down, and they set their foreheads together. She looked up and locked her eyes with his. Then they kissed. Not a fake one to shut someone up, a real one, to show actual affection. They broke it, and held hands.

"I love you, Ace." she said. He smiled. That's all he had wanted to hear.

"I love you, too." He closed his eyes.

"Beautiful 'line."

Authors Note -

Credit goes to:

Daft Punk

Sting 


End file.
